‘Project Enterprise’ brings strong annual return for Test Valley Borough Council
A project launched in 2014 by Test Valley Borough Council to reduce long term reliance on government grants is continuing to generate a healthy return for the authority.
Test Valley Borough Council’s cabinet received an update this week on the annual progress of Project Enterprise, which was initially set up to cushion the impact of reduced government funding and to diversify and extend the council’s investment portfolio.
Finance portfolio holder, Councillor Maureen Flood said: “Over the past year, Project Enterprise investments earned the council more than £2M with a return on investment of 7.4 per cent. This is some £1.77M more than would have been achieved if we had kept it in the bank.
“I am delighted that the council’s careful forethought and planning has resulted in us reaping the rewards, year on year, of well-managed, shrewd investments. At a time when councils are increasingly stretched and having to make difficult funding decisions, we have been able to continue to protect the services that benefit our communities.”
The council also says that despite the current pandemic the forecast for next year is positive, with income in excess of £2m again expected to be achieved.
In 2018/19 the council earned £1.924M total income through Project Enterprise, which represented a 7.3 per cent average return on investment and £1.7M more than would have been achieved by keeping it in the bank.